Harry vows to 'finish Diana's work'

Prince Harry today spells out his mission in life: to keep alive the memory of Diana, Princess of Wales, and carry forward the good work his late mother didn't quite finish.

On the day he turns 18, the third in line to the throne speaks openly for the first time about his immense pride in his mother and how he is inspired to carve a future role for himself battling, as she did, to help little-known causes.

Harry outlined his plans after visiting sick children at Great Ormond Street, the London hospital that held a special place in Diana's heart. She was its president until she died and raised millions for new wards, including where Harry spent time meeting youngsters with leukaemia.

As he chatted to the children, there was a flash of the attributes for which his mother became legendary: bringing a smile to the suffering.

Eleven-year-old Samantha Ledster, in the midst of her course of treatment, beamed as Harry sat on her bed and spent about 10 minutes asking her questions and looking at her 'get-well-soon' cards.

As well as Great Ormond Street Hospital, the prince visited three charities working with children during the day of engagements, last Thursday, as he undertook his first solo royal duties.

Arranged to mark his coming of age, Harry said he had wanted to do something in honour of his mother - who had "more guts than anybody". Her death on August 31, 1997, came just days before his 13th birthday.

Harry has also posed for a series of birthday portraits with Diana's favourite photographer, Mario Testino, who last year impressed the Prince of Wales with a picture of him at Highgrove.

The resulting images show Harry looking relaxed and confident.

Prince Harry - the party prince - will be celebrating his birthday quietly at home today and insists he will not be having a knees-up.

But he will certainly be reflecting on the charity visits.

"It wasn't just a one-off thing," he said. "I've wanted to do something like this for a long time."

He was 15 or 16 when the idea of following in his mother's footsteps began to germinate in his mind.

"I always wanted to do it, but especially after my mother died.

"The fifth anniversary of her death was important because she wasn't remembered in a way I would have liked."

Harry is known to have been deeply upset when the anniversary was dominated by a book written by former royal bodyguard Ken Wharfe detailing Diana's private life and romantic affairs.

Harry said he wanted to highlight the things about her of which he was most proud: "The way she got close to people and went for the sort of charities and organisations that everybody else was scared to go near, such as landmines in the Third World. She got involved in things that nobody had done before; Aids for example.

"She had more guts than anybody else.

"I want to carry on the things that she didn't quite finish. I have always wanted to, but was too young."

Although Thursday's visits in London were Harry's first solo engagements, he is unlikely to carry out any more for a while because of school commitments.

Travelling discreetly in a small convoy of cars without police outriders, he was accompanied by trusted friend and aide Mark Dyer - a former equerry to the Prince of Wales - and a number of St James's Palace staff and royal protection officers.

But he was the only member of the Royal Family on the visits, and the experience was both a daunting and an exciting one, though he felt he needed more practice.

"It was quite difficult at first, being younger and not as experienced as some of the people I was meeting," he said. "I have seen my mother doing it so many times and she was so good at it. But the more I do it in the future, the better I hope to become.

"It was very different. In the past, I've always had my father and brother there. At things like the (Queen's Golden) Jubilee, when we met crowds in the Mall, I just followed what they did and shook hands as they did. But it's definitely harder doing it on your own."

Harry plans to take on charitable work gradually and intends to pick areas reflecting the type of causes his mother was interested in, though not necessarily the same organisations.

"I would like to think that she would want William and myself to continue, but I've got to settle down to my A levels first," said Harry, who started his final year at Eton a week ago.

However he will not become patron of any charities just yet.

For a teenager who, like it or not, gained a certain reputation earlier this year after admitting under-age drinking and smoking cannabis, it may come as a surprise to learn Harry's birthday plans today.

"Nothing," he said. "I'm not having a party or anything. My father offered me a birthday party at home but I turned it down. I don't actually like being the centre of attention.

"Plus, there's all the organisation I would have to do, and I've got school the next day. So it will be a quiet day at home with my father and my brother - my family."

As for the row over his drink and drugs difficulties, revealed in January, he said simply: "That was a mistake and I learned my lesson. It was never my intention to be that way."

The young prince disclosed he was getting a set of golf clubs from his maternal uncle Earl Spencer for his birthday, but insisted: "I'm not obsessed by golf. I play it occasionally, but I don't want to play it professionally."

On the subject of a sporting career, Harry also scotched rumours that he planned to become a professional polo player, touring the world with the seasons to compete year-round.

"That idea was mainly put out to wind up my father," he revealed. "We had not discussed my gap year until then, so I casually mentioned spending the year playing polo to him to see what the reaction would be."

Putting on a mock teenage huff, he mumbled: "It's not going to happen. Because I can't. It's a simple reason."

He said: "But I will still play polo a lot, probably like my father does in charity matches, but also competitively."

About the rest of his future, Harry has given only idle thought at this stage. He has set his heart on a gap year after A levels and wants to do something involving travel and charity work, but says he has no firm plans yet.

University is a possibility, though he has not decided on a course, and he said he would also be tempted by a spell in the armed forces.

There appears to be a lot of ideas in the melting pot but none which have fully taken shape.

Harry added, no doubt for the benefit of his long-suffering father: "I might take a four-year gap year to fit it all in."

For now, Harry can celebrate his 18th birthday knowing he has taken the first steps of carving a future role in life for himself.

The prince's mischievous side has also been looking forward to teasing Prince William - who returned from holiday in Kenya yesterday - about the Mario Testino portraits.

"Maybe he'll be jealous!" he said.

"It was hysterical doing the photo shoot with Mario. We had a really fun day."

Asked what he thought when he first saw the prints, Harry laughed and put on a deep, gravelly voice to joke: "Who's a good-looking guy!"

He added: "But seriously, they're OK. I mean, it's always strange looking at your own picture, isn't it, and I'm the same as anybody. But Mario's a great guy and a great photographer and we had a lot of fun doing them."

Could he potentially nudge his brother from the top spot as the world's favourite pin-up prince?

"Is he?" Harry at first retorted, his eyebrows raised. "I really wouldn't know. Anyway, William and I don't talk about that much. I certainly don't look at my own pictures and think that."

Media organisations are being charged for using the portraits and Harry has decided that all proceeds will benefit Merlin, a UK-based humanitarian charity providing health care for people in the third world.

Diana famously declared she would like to be the "queen of people's hearts".

Inevitably Harry will find himself dubbed the "Prince of Hearts" for his charitable ambitions but he is not sure the title would suit him.

"I'll probably leave that sort of thing with my mother for the time being," said the teenage Royal, who - as with William on his 18th birthday - does not want to adopt the formal His Royal Highness status just yet.

Though driven by the achievements and memories of Diana, Harry has also his father to thank for moulding his ambitions.

The Prince of Wales is himself patron of 328 charities, and carries out more than 600 engagements a year.

"Father is very happy about my plans and has encouraged me to take an interest in my mother's work. He rang me after the visit to make sure I was all right and hadn't taken on too much, but I told him that I really enjoyed them."

Which is good, because, if Harry is serious about his ambitions, he is going to be out and about a great deal more in the future.